Uber rival Grab’s first CFO is leaving the company after just seven months

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Grab, Uber’s archrival in Southeast Asia, is losing its first CFO just seven months after her appointment, the company confirmed.

Linda Hoglund joined Singapore-based Grab from video streaming company HOOQ in May, where she had also been CFO, but four-year-old Grab announced her departure internally as part of a reshuffle of its financial management team.

TechCrunch understands that Grab has appointed an interim CFO from within its own ranks, but it isn’t actively recruiting for a direct replacement. That’s because many of Hoglund’s responsibilities will be transferred to Grab President Ming Maa, who joined the company from Grab investor SoftBank in October, and transitioning to that new structure is the immediate priority. Hoglund will stay on for a couple of months to aid with that change.

Maa spent more than a decade in investment roles that included a stint with Goldman. As Grab president he is tasked with “managing the company’s overall capital structure,” among other responsibilities, according to a statement made at the time of his appointment.

Grab’s internal announcement of Hoglund’s departure said that she’d developed the company’s financial structure and process to enable it to scale further in the future. Her exit, it added, was on account of her desire to return to a more hands-on, operational role.

Grab was founded in 2012 and it operates in more than 30 cities in six countries across Southeast Asia. It claims some 24 million downloads and a pool of more than 500,000 drivers. The company has now raised over $1.4 billion and, like other ride-sharing operators worldwide, there’s a big question on its future exit, which could be an IPO in the future. If so, getting the necessary financial systems and structure in place is an important step, and that could well be one of the factors behind this reshuffle.

OverviewFormerly Known as GrabTaxi, Grab is Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing platform. We solve critical transportation challenges and make transport freedom a reality for 620 million people in Southeast Asia.
Grab offers a wide range of services through one mobile app:

OverviewUber, a [San Francisco](/location/san-francisco/528f5e3c90d111115d1c2e4ff979d58e)-based technology startup, is innovating at the intersection of lifestyle and logistics. Uber connects riders with safe, reliable, convenient transportation providers at a variety of price-points in cities around the world.